Bradford on Beer
Getting Savor Right
Posted June 21, 2010 4 Comments | Post a Comment
They did it again, those enthusiastic folks from the Brewers Association, Boulder, CO. The third annual Savor, the quintessence of beer and food events located in Washington DC, was a stunner with tickets selling out in minutes. Back at the National Building Museum, with its soaring columns, Savor meant fifteen stations with four breweries each, two beers per brewery, and a food pairing for each beer adjacent to the beer serving station. The brewery booth layouts were bracketed by an oyster bar on one end and a cheese bar on the other with a round center station with another ten breweries. That’s the mechanics.
Most of the beers were presented by senior members of the brewery – beer celebrities such as Greg Koch of Stone, Brett Joyce of Rogue, Kim Jordan of New Belgium, Gary Fish of Deschutes, Brian Buckowski of Terrapin, Patrick Rue of The Bruery, John McDonald of Boulevard, Brian Dunn of Great Divide, Gene Mueller of Flying Fish, Jamie Emmerson of Full Sail, Sam Caligione of Dogfish Head, Rob Tod of Allagash, were among the many brewery types on hand to talk beer. The lucky few who got tickets had the best and the brightest to learn from.
Savor now soars to a completely different aesthetic than simply the mechanics. While the logistics are extraordinary, and Bob and Nancy of the Brewers Association manage them very well, it is the questions that are raised which separate this event from all others. Fortunately, I had Bruce Paton, the Beer Chef, at my elbow during most of my wanderings to help with just such questions of sensory perception and analysis. Here are a few of the pairings where I can at least read the notes!
Ballast Point Sculpin IPA paired with jerk chicken. Unfortunately there wasn’t much “jerk” to the chicken. However, the Sculpin was a hop feast with a lot of spicy mouthiness to it.
Deschutes Brewery Obsidian Stout paired with mac and very cheddar cheese. Perhaps the catering company was a little conservative because, as with the jerk chicken, cheese lacked the expected sharpness. Easily remedied. Bruce and I took our Obsidian Stout to the cheese booth and found a sharp chedder, which just nailed the pairings, a perfect compliment of rich nutty texture and sharp malt/cheddar finish
Dog Brewing Pub Dog Very Cherry Ale paired with oatmeal stout chocolate truffles. A dynamite example of cutting, or as Bruce put it “relieve the flavor.” When the truffles followed the cherry ale there is a brief flash of the flavor than a surprisingly clean palate.
Flying Fish Exit 16 Double IPA paired with a paella. The paella lacked the punch I’d usually associate with the dish. However, the pairing gave Bruce an opportunity to talk about two types of heat – herbal that goes well with hops versus spicy that elevates the heat when paired with hops.
Green Flash Trippel paired with asian bbq salmon. The Trippel is all malt, no candy sugar added to get it to the alcohol. The salmon accented the malt base perfectly, with the fish oil pairing the Saaz hops.
Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery Big Cypress Brown Ale paired with buffalo chili. Fortunately the chili was barely present allowing for the nutty brown to shine. Meaty meets malty in a nice collision.
North Coast Brewing Le Merle with baked goat cheese in a tomato sauce. Bruce described this as a very happy marriage. The texture was very complimentary with the acidity of the goat cheese balancing the Belgian funk.
Uinta Brewing Co. Detour Double IPA paired with mahi-mahi fish tacos. The double IPA just roared over the tacos. Mahi-mahi has some subtle flavors accentuated by the pico de gallo. The malt depth and spicy levels of the IPA were just too big. However, the Cockeyed Cooper paired with salted dark chocolate caramel truffles showed how the sum can be greater than the parts. The roasted barley and cocoa beans laid a nice foundation brining out the heat of the alcohol.
Although many others were tried, the above represents the limits of my note taking and my ability to read what notes I have. Too much a hedonist and not enough a journalist.
Hidden Jems!
Posted June 18, 2010 0 Comments | Post a Comment
What’s particularly cool about the craft beer industry are its hidden gems (like this post I just found hidden in the drafts folder!) that are rare and distinctive, those unique experiences which are so far removed from the tried and true comfortable local or favorite beer. This job allows me the opportunity to chase down some of these crazy ideas, like the Big Beers, Belgians & Barley Wine Fest in Vail, Colorado.
Weeks later I’m still remembering and thinking about this event. Celebrating its 10th year, the Big Beers has a lot of serious upside to it. First, it is in Vail and the snow was perfect. Having hung up the boards a few decades ago, self-preservation was the rationale, I looked on with envy as brewer and attendee hit the slopes for a few runs. Beyond the skiing, wandering through the frozen, streetlight painted Vail village after a raucous dinner with brewers and enthusiasts just can’t be replicated in many places around the country.
However, the second feature transforms the event. The Colorado Front Range throws it’s full support behind Big Beers. Virtually the whole Brewers Association, the trade organization for craft brewers, attended this gathering as spectators, enjoying the bounty without the stress of running it. (They do put on the Craft Brewers Conference, the Great American Beer Festival, Savor, not to mention all their publications.) John Carlson, the head of the Colorado Guild was there, as were virtually every brewer in the state. For a serious beer lover, this was rubbing elbows with the greats of one of the leading beer scenes in the country.
This precipitated a nostaglic moment for me. I had a wonderful opportunity to judge at the homebrew competition with a couple of serious homebrewers. Funny thing was, looking around the room, I knew more people in that room than I had at any of the Southeast judgings I’d been in on lately. Nearly twenty years after leaving, I still miss the Colorado beer scene.
Back to the Big Beers, what Bill and Laura Lodge, of High Point Brewery, have put together is a complete beer experience for those who are serious about their beer. A couple of beer dinners, some seminars featuring major brewing talent from the States and Europe, a Cicerone seminar and test hosted by Ray Daniels, the already mentioned homebrew competition, and then the beer festival itself where a couple dozen breweries showcased their spectacular big beers.
I attended one of the two beer dinners where Adam Avery, Avery Brewing, and Sam Caligione, Dogfishhead Brewing paired off with Chef Adam Votow acting as the ringleader. Imagine double pairing two beers with one dish. The show stopper was the Dugana IPA from Avery and the Chicory Stout from Dogfish Head paired with a rubbed pork loin, an exciting triangulation.
The Lupulin Reunuless at the Brickskeller
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Round three or four of the brewery young guns slam fest got seriously toned down this year. From previous years’ mash-ups, with heavy doses of bathroom humor, this beer maven summit transformed itself into an historical, sociological, political, aesthetic feast of rare talent gathered on one platform. Of course, it took the legendary Dave Alexander, Brickskeller and RFD proprietor; to bring everyone together into a room packed with beer geeks and beer scribes.
Here’s young Dave on the cover of our first redesigned issue:
Picture this – Ken Grossman (Sierra Nevada Brewing Co), Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head Brewery), Kim Jordan (New Belgium Brewery), Rob Tod (Allagash Brewing Co), Greg Koch (Stone Brewing Co.), Bill Madden (Mad Fox Brewery), and Bob Pease (Brewers Association) – all jammed together on the podium to present on fifteen different beers.
With this level of fire power it’s easy to see how the conversation rambled throughout the new brewing landscape. Two dominant threads were industry education and history. Between the brewers and Bob from the association, the audience got a short course on the economics of running a small brewery and the valued work of the trade association, particularly the latest initiative to reduce the excise tax burden.
Ken talked about the early days and how few of those pioneers were still around (besides Sierra Nevada, would you believe only 1!) and the many crossroads he’s faced in the intervening years. His early benchmarks, and the origins of his equipment, were eye opening given his stature today. One of his progeny, Brian, was in the audience indicating a long future for the company.
Kim Jordan, perhaps a leader of the next generation of craft brewers, noted the cost to fund growth rates. Going from today’s numbers, which exceeds 10% in many markets including Washington DC, would require such a massive infusion of capital to build the equipment infrastructure to create, distribute and market that next few percentage points of growth. Bob Pease joined in with a discussion of the trade association’s efforts to get the excise tax reduced for small brewers in the interest of funding this expansion. As with Ken, Kim had a brewing offspring in the audience with Zak Danielson sitting amidst the New Belgium gang.
Often associated together along with goombah Adam Avery of Avery Brewing, Greg, Sam and Rob talked about getting their companies going some during the implosion of the late 1990s. With an industry established, these “pioneers” moved in rather unique ways to fulfill their personal mission. Greg’s aggressive defiance, Rob’s quiet almost monkish aesthetics, Sam’s raucous flavor explorations have all lead to legendary profiles that have rocked the foundation of craft beer expanding the tent in exciting dimensions.
And then Bill reminded everyone of the roots or our industry as he talked about opening his new brewery in two weeks. Although a long standing brewing stalwart of the DC brewer community, Bill is launching his own place reminding all of us that the pioneering passion continues generation after generation.
A few notes from the 15 beers presented:
Vintage 50 Wee Heavy – Not from the unopened Mad Fox, but from Bill’s private stash. The last keg in existence of one of his legendary creations, which takes six hours to mash. This was the ultimate statement of a wee heavy.
Oaked Arrogant Bastard – Greg says this is not barrel aged, but aged on oak chips which rounds out the hops taking the edge of the well respected in-your-face beer.
30th Anniversary Imperial Helles – Ken made this to honor the pioneer homebrewers picking a lager to honor Fred Eckhardt’s Treatise on Lager Beer and using a lager yeast from Charlie Papazian.
Eric’s Ale – New Belgium blended a dry sour beer, aged in oak with a more sweet, alcoholic beer, with a secondary fermentation using peaches. smooth and characterful
Bourbon Barrel Belgian Style Stout – not a real style, but Rob liked combining Belgian funk, with mocha from Jim Beam barrels and linking them with the stout bitterness.
Namaste – the only time served outside of the Dogfish Head tasting room. Started with a Tois Fountain sort of beer and added stuff chosen by Mariah, Sam’s wife, including lemon grass and actual oranges.
Life & Limb – celebrating the brewing renaissance and the family that goes into a good brewery, Ken and Sam blended Ken’s own barley and Sam’s own maple syrup. This too was the last cask and almost got dumped before someone figure out what it was.
There were numerous other beers and hours of conversations worthy of a short book, not a too long blog. Watch for round four or five same bat-time, same bat-channel.
